How Weight Gain Affects Perimenopause, PCOS, and Puberty - With Dr. Jennifer Ashton

The Model Health Show

Shawn Stevenson

Fitness, Health & Fitness, Motivation, Wellness, Nutrition, Health, Sex, Selfhelp

4.8 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 11 November 2025

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the age of social media, we have access to a vast array of opinions and information. But when it comes to a topic as critical as our health, false information can have disastrous implications. Today, we have an expert here to help cut through the noise on women’s health and wellness. On this episode of The Model Health Show, our guest is Dr. Jennifer Ashton, who has unique and influential credentials in nutrition, obesity medicine, and gynecology. She is a graduate of Columbia Medical School and the former ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent. In this interview, Dr. Ashton is discussing important pillars of women’s health, including the field of nutritional gynecology, how metabolic health intertwines with hormonal changes, and so much more. You’re going to learn about issues affecting women’s health, ranging from puberty to menopause. We’re going to discuss the environmental factors that can worsen hormonal conditions, and how to understand our bodies as whole, interconnected systems. I hope you enjoy this interview with Dr. Jennifer Ashton! In this episode you’ll discover: What nutritional gynecology is. (4:40) How metabolic health intersects with reproductive hormonal milestones. (5:07) The pros and cons of specialization in medicine. (9:15) Why puberty is occurring early and the risks associated with early puberty. (12:56) Specific steps parents can take to minimize environmental toxins. (16:12) The three factors that contribute to overweight and obesity. (20:30) How Dr. Ashton teaches her children about nutrition and macronutrients. (30:02) The importance of making intentional food choices. (31:21) What PCOS is and why it can be difficult to diagnose. (34:12) The percentage of body fat loss that can improve hormonal symptoms. (37:07) When perimenopause can begin, and why its symptoms are often dismissed. (50:34) How the menopause conversation can often disempower women. (57:11) Why Dr. Ashton transformed her level of fitness in her 50s. (1:02:37) Items mentioned in this episode include: Thelumebox.com/model - Save 50% off your red light therapy device for a limited time! Organifi.com/Model - Use the coupon code MODEL for 20% off + free shipping! The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt - Learn about mental health & social media! Ajenda by Dr. Jen Ashton - Join Dr. Ashton’s fitness program! Connect with Dr. Jennifer Ashton - Newsletter / Instagram / TikTok Be sure you are subscribed to this podcast to automatically receive your episodes: Apple Podcasts Spotify Soundcloud Pandora YouTube This episode of The Model Health Show is brought to you by LMNT and Organifi. Organifi makes nutrition easy and delicious for everyone. Take 20% off your order with the code MODEL at organifi.com/model. The LUMEBOX is clinically designed to deliver both red (660 nm) and near-infrared (850 nm) wavelengths in one sleek handheld device. Independently lab-tested for performance: more coverage, higher irradiance, and a greater effect. For a limited time only, you can save 50% on LUMEBOX red light therapy system, designed to boost recovery, skin health, and overall vitality by using my exclusive link: thelumebox.com/model.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You are now listening to The Model Health Show with Sean Stevenson. For more, visit themodelhealthshow.com.
0:09.9	Thankfully, we're living at a time where there is an abundance of health and wellness information that we have access to.
0:15.8	There's a lot of conversations about longevity, increasing our lifespan, but we also want to increase our health
0:22.7	span. So it's the quality of those years. And with this longevity conversation, there's a huge
0:30.1	conversation taking place right now regarding menopause and perimenopause. And that is an
0:36.7	amazing, amazing change that happened just recently.
0:41.1	Again, this is maybe, again, a few years, maybe a decade ago that this has become a part of the
0:47.1	popular health conversation. And so today's episode is very, very special because we're going to
0:52.2	be looking at that timeline with women's
0:54.8	health from puberty to perimenopause and beyond and really help to identify some of the
1:03.1	obstacles that women are facing today. And I'm telling you right now, today's expert, to say that she is the goat, the G-O-A-T, the
1:13.8	greatest of all time, would not be an understatement when it comes to communicating issues
1:19.4	of health and wellness with the public. She's been standing up as a bright light in this
1:25.3	field for quite some time and distributing information on national
1:29.2	television consistently again and again for many, many years. And to hear her insights and especially
1:36.4	her time in this space of not just being a personality in national television, but somebody
1:42.6	who's been a practicing physician, a practicing
1:45.2	gynecologist all the while, all right? She's doing both at the same time. Her insights are
1:53.4	priceless. And not only are we going to be talking about the changes in our environment
1:59.1	that are leading to changes in our physical and mental
2:02.6	health, including a dramatic increase in obesity and overweight. We're also going to be looking
2:12.3	at what she refers to as a potential disempowering aspect of this movement with the conversation of menopause,
	...

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